


Pain Split

by ZZ_Chikorita



Series: Jolly Rogers [12]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Adventure, Backstory, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Feel-good, First Kiss, First Love, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZZ_Chikorita/pseuds/ZZ_Chikorita
Summary: The boys take a detour on their way home.
Relationships: Guzma/Kukui-hakase | Professor Kukui
Series: Jolly Rogers [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680463
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Pain Split

**Author's Note:**

> Ch. 12

The two Alolan boys walked shoulder to shoulder down the street. Wimpod rode in Guzma's sweatshirt with his little face poking out the front. 

"D.J's pretty cool, isn't she?" asked Guzma suddenly.

Kukui put his hands behind his head and said, "Yeah I guess... I mean she's really smart. But she's kind of..."

"Kind of what?"

"Ya know... kind of strange. She sure doesn't look like a doctor. Or act like one..."

"But that's what makes her so cool. She don't care what nobody else thinks. She just does what she wants! Also, she has really pretty eyes..."

Kukui looked over at him from above his green-rimmed glasses.

"What?"

"You like her!" accused Kukui past a mischievous smile.

"I do not! I mean... I do like her... but not like that! It's just...." -Guzma twisted one of the strings of his hoodie around his finger- "If I had a big sister, I would want her to be just like D.J."

After another minute of walking, Guzma turned to his friend and grinned, "So, is there someone _you_ like?"

"I ain't tellin' you," he replied teasingly. 

"That's not a 'no'! C'mon, who is it?"

"Not sayin'."

"Is it Olivia? She's super cute."

"Nope. You'll never guess it."

"Then tell me!"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"That don't make any sense!"

"If you knew, then it'd make sense."

"You're a weirdo."  
Guzma playfully bumped his friend with his shoulder, accepting he wasn't going to get an answer out of him that easily.

They continued their trek. They were just about to pass the entrance to Lush Jungle when Guzma stopped in his tracks and grabbed Kukui's hand.

"Wanna go hike in the jungle before we go home?" he asked with wide-eyes.

Kukui smiled back and answered by running toward the entrance with his friend en hand. 

They loved playing in the jungle; they love exploring, climbing trees, and just doing all the wonderful things kids do. They would even hang out over by the rocky outcropping Guzma first found Wimpod on and swim in the ocean.  
But Guzma had a specific idea in mind for today...

"How are you so fast? You only got one arm!" Kukui called up from a lower limb of the large tree.

The white haired boy was effortlessly pulling himself up and swinging from one branch to the next like an aipom.  
Wimpod scurried up the tree trunk behind him.

"I just have more practice than you! And my friend's a good teacher..."

"Oh shut up! A whole year and I ain't never seen this so called friend."

"He only comes out when I'm here alone."

"Don't lie," Kukui said in a smug tone, "you never go anywhere without me!"

Guzma hooked his legs onto a branch and swung himself upside down directly in front of the boy. 

"More like, _you_ never go nowhere without _me_." 

He grinned impishly just a few inches from the boy's tanned face.

Much to Kukui's surprise, he began to lean forward, slowly closing the gap between them, his pale locks dangling beneath him. Luckily for Kukui, the natural warm undertones of his skin make it nearly impossible to tell if he's blushing.  
Suddenly, Guzma swung himself back up, grabbing the brim of his friend's cap in his teeth in one smooth movement. 

"Guzma!"

"You 'ant it 'ack you gotta catsh me!"1 he replied with the ball cap between his teeth.

He continued up the tree at a decent clip. Kukui desperately scrambled to keep up with him. 

"Guzma, we're going too high!"

The boy ignored him, now at least another five feet ahead.  
Kukui contemplated. If he could get him to talk, he'd have to take the hat out of his mouth and slow down.

"What's an oranguru need to climb for anyways? Can't they just levitate and teleport places?"

It actually worked, Guzma pulled the hat out of his teeth and paused while he answered, "Humans can run but we still choose to walk, don't we?"

"I guess that makes sense..."

Kukui sighed, realizing he barely made any progress before the hat was back in his friend's teeth and he was climbing again. 

The chase went on and on until, finally, the branches of the canopy became too thin to continue. Guzma waited patiently on a sturdy branch for his friend to catch up while he fanned himself lazily with the ball cap. 

"Ok *huff* you made *huff* your point. Gimme my hat..." he wheezed, reaching out to it, strands of his unruly hair sticking to his damp face. 

"Nuh uh, not yet," said Guzma leaning with his arm as far away as he could manage, "First, get on my shoulders."

"What? Why?"

"Do you trust me?"

The question kind of took the dark haired boy aback. 

"Well, yeah of course I do!"

"Then get on my shoulders."

Kukui wearily obliged. It was no lie, he really did trust his friend, but he's never been up this high in the canopy so he couldn't help but be a little apprehensive about it. No one could survive from a fall from this height.  
He coiled his fingers in his friend's hair to steady himself as he stepped up.

"You ready, Brother?"

"Ready? Ready for wh-"  
But he was cut off as Guzma stood up on the branch, boosting him up through the very last twigs and leaves of the canopy.

Kukui's dark eyes grew wide.  
He could see everything! The top of the canopy stretched far into an endless sea of green and leaves. To the west he could see the ocean reaching out and shining against the horizon.

Several pikipek popped in and out of the leaves all around. A toucannon slept peacefully on her nest of eggs. Overhead, a Pa'u style oricorio flew gracefully by. Further out, several butterfree danced and played in the wind currents. 

A bunch of cutiefly zipped around from one bloom to the next, sipping the delicious nectar and unknowingly pollinating the trees. One of them buzzed over to Kukui to investigate this new giant 'flower' that suddenly sprung up. The buzz of its wings tickled his face in butterfly kisses as it zoomed in circles around his head. He giggled merrily at the sensation. Satisfied that this strange flower held no nectar, it flitted away.

The warm breeze lifted Kukui's messy, black hair from his shoulders; it almost felt like he was flying. Leaves swirled like the ocean currents against the bright blue sky.  
Never has he seen a sight so beautiful.  
It's like a whole other world he never knew about was right here, all along, above the tree tops.  
He let out breathless laugh.

After another minute, Guzma took a knee to let his friend off. The boy was all smiles as he dropped back down onto the branch.

"Guzma! That was amazing! It's so incredible up there!" he exclaimed, grabbing his friend's shoulders.

"Well I..." -he sheepishly fidgetted with the ends of his hoodie strings and looked down- "I wanted to thank you for... ya know... helping me fix my arm... and the malasada... and-"

He was cut off mid-sentence by the unfamiliar, but definitely not unpleasant, feeling of warm, soft lips being pressed against his own.  
And just as suddenly as it began... it was over.

The pale faced boy reflexively brought his hand up to his mouth, not fully aware of what just happened.

"You _never_ have to thank me for stuff like that, hoalola."

Recent events finally sinking in, Guzma's faced turned as red as a sunburned charmander.  
Kukui covered his mouth and giggled. 

Suddenly, his expression changed.

"Um... Guzma?" he said, "Where's my hat?" 

Guzma looked at his (empty) hand, which was still hovering in front of his mouth. 

"Oh crap." 

They both looked beneath them, scanning the branches for the white baseball cap. 

"There!" Kukui exclaimed, pointing to a branch at least twenty feet down. 

"Oh man, I'm so sorry. I'll get it!" 

Guzma had began to descend before Kukui could argue with him. 

"It's ok! Just wait for me!" said Kukui, still moving much more cautiously and slowly than his passimian-like friend. 

Guzma arrived on the correct branch but the hat had been caught way out on the end of the limb. He wasn't sure it'd be able to support his weight that far out.  
Regardless, he began to inch his way along the branch. There was a very audible creak.

"Guzma, it's ok, really! It's just a hat!" pleaded Kukui, still several feet above him. 

Ignoring him, he got on his hand and knees. It was difficult to balance without a second arm to steady himself, but he reached as far as he could.  
Just a little farther! It was just beyond his fingertips.

All of a sudden, he felt something crawl up his leg and along his back. The little creature scuttered up onto his shoulder and then onto his arm.

"Wimpi! What are you doing?"

Wimpod continued until he was on Guzma's outstretched hand. The bug reached out, hooking its little legs into the cap. He brought it close enough for Guzma to finally get a grip on it. 

Guzma brought in his arm along with Wimpod and the hat. He sat onto the branch and bowed his head to the Bug type. Wimpod pressed his little head against his trainer's. 

"You're the best wimpod ever!" he sighed. 

"Skrri ka!"

Guzma looked up. Kukui was just a branch above now. 

"That's a great pokémon you got there!" he called down.

Guzma smiled and stood himself up. He reached up, handing Kukui his hat back. Meanwhile, Wimpod jumped from his trainer's hand to his friend's. It scurried up his arm and nuzzled his russet brown face.

"Yes I'm talking' 'bout you, Brother. You're the best!"

The sight made the pale boy's heart flutter. He turned away so Kukui couldn't see his face turning red again. Seems like a good time to continue the descent.

_*Crack!*_

As soon as Guzma took a step, the branch gave way, causing him to lose his footing.

"Brother!" shouted Kukui, but it was too late.

Guzma was now plummeting down the various layers of the jungle.

As he fell, he tried desperately to grab onto anything, but with one arm, it was almost impossible. Smaller branches snapped under the momentum of the fall while the larger ones just scraped at the skin of his palm.

No, no, no! He can't die like this! His dad would kill him if he died!

He managed to get a decent grip on a branch after falling another forty feet, but the momentum swung his torso into the hard wood... and directly into his bad arm.

"Crap!" he screamed out, the sudden pain forcing him to lose his grip. He continued plummeting down, this time also with a searing, unbearable pain in his arm. 

The ground was approaching quickly. Guzma shut his eyes tightly and wrapped his arm around himself, bracing for the inevitable. 

But...  
Nothing was happening.  
Did he die and he didn't realize it?  
Why does his arm still have to hurt like heck in the afterlife?

Guzma carefully opened up one eye.  
He gasped.  
He was hovering with his face just a few feet above the ground. 

"W-what?" whispered Guzma. 

Then he noticed in his peripheral vision a familiar peachy color.

"O.G.!" he yelled, looking up at the large oranguru.

The pokémon was clinging to some vines with one hand and his feet. His free hand held his leafy fan parralel to the ground. Slowly, he began to lower the angle of the fan and Guzma with it.

The boy landed gingerly on the forest floor. He was shaken up, but 100% less dead than he should've been.

"Guzma!"

Kukui was finally reaching the bottom of the tree. Wimpod scurried down before him, making all kinds of frantic chirps and clicks.

Guzma sat up and stroked the panicked little isopod.

"Shh... it's ok Wimpi. I'm ok, see? **Oof!** "

Kukui had run over and dove onto the boy in a tight hug.

"Guzma! I'm so so sorry! I never should have... Why'd I have to go and... Arceus! I'm so stupid!" 

"Ow ow ow ow, Kukui let go! My arm! KUKUI!"

He finally released him as it registered that he was pressing his entire body into Guzma's broken arm. 

"Sorry! B-but... H-how? You're not... I mean... you're alive!"

_Fwump!_

The ground shook for a moment. A shadow eclipsed Kukui. He turned around hesitantly.

"What the-!"  
He stumbled backwards at the sight of the enormous, odd-colored oranguru.  
Despite this, his stood his ground in front of Guzma protectively. 

"It's ok Kukui!" Guzma said, reaching up and grabbing the back of his friend's shirt, "He's my friend! And he saved me from the fall- AH!"

Guzma writhed from a sudden jolt of pain in his arm. The adrenaline from falling was wearing off so he was beginning to feel the full force of his re-injury. 

Kukui dropped back down to his friend's side. Guzma was in so much pain. Tears welled up in his eyes as he came to the horrid realization that there's nothing he can do to stop it.

The oranguru rested a large, gray hand on the dark haired boy's shoulder.

Kukui turned to the strange pokémon. He didn't know what else to do. 

"Please..." he said softly behind cloudy eyes, "Help him."

The oranguru nodded.  
The pokémon lifted the pale boy in his arms. He placed his hand on the back of Guzma's head and touched his forehead to his own. 

Kukui's jaw dropped as the pokémon's peach fur began to glow. The blue star on his forehead lit up against the boy's. Then, Guzma's own hair began to glow like... moonlight.  
Slowly his expression, which was twisted in pain, began to soften.  
After another moment, the glowing stopped and the oranguru laid the boy back down gently onto the jungle leaves. 

Kukui dropped down next to him.

"Brother! Brother! What happened!?" he asked.

Guzma looked up at him with exhausted eyes.

"The pain..." he breathed.

"Is it... is it gone?" asked Kukui hopefully.

Guzma shook his head.  
"But..." he said, "It's so much better. It's unreal..."

What on Earth kind of move did it just use on him? 

Kukui looked over at the oranguru. He was knuckle walking away except... he was only using his left arm. He held the other up against his body.

"W-wait!" Kukui called.

Oranguru stopped and turned toward the boy. 

"Mahalo."

The pokémon nodded and continued on its way.

Kukui looked back down at the white haired boy. His eyes were closed but his face was relaxed. He bent down and pressed his forehead against his friend's.

"I'm... I'm glad you're not dead," Kukui said, trying to sound more like his normal, cheery self. 

"Don't lie," Guzma replied, mimicking his friend's tone from earlier, "You're just happy you got your hat back."

This made Kukui chuckle. 

"Oh, shuddup!" he said, reaching up Guzma's hoodie and tickling his bare stomach.

Guzma laughed and kicked his feet, trying to get away... at least, that's what he made it seem like.

"I almost died *giggle* you big jerk!"

"Emphasis on the 'almost'! So free game!"

Wimpod hissed and clicked angrily from the ground beside them, obviously upset that neither of them were taking this whole situation more seriously.

"Fine! I'll stop!" said Kukui, raising his hands guiltily to the annoyed isopod. 

Guzma was still on the ground laughing. Kukui had unintentionally pushed his sweatshirt up, exposing his right arm. To his surprise, it was significantly less swollen than when they left D.J.'s earlier. 

"Do you... know what it did to you?"

"Nope," said Guzma sitting up and tugging his shirt down, "I've never seen him use a move like that."

"And you didn't tell me your oranguru friend was a _shiny_!" 

"A what?"

"Shiny! It's a super rare mutation that completely changes a pokémon's phenotype."

"Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about."

They both laughed. Kukui helped his friend into a standing position. They exchanged looks that told each other that they should probably stop pushing their luck and just go home now.

~~~

The ferry ride back to Melemele was much more relaxed. Rather, there were a lot less tears than the ride over. 

"So... umm..." -Kukui rubbed the back of his neck- "Today was a weird day, eh?"

"You could say that."

"But... was it a bad day?"

Guzma rested his chin in his hand as he thought.

"No, I wouldn't say it was a bad day... although, there was _some_ things about it I didn't really like."

"L-like, what?"

"Well... for one thing, the copious amounts of sobbing in front of my best friend wasn't great... the realignment of my freaking bones kinda sucked... then there was almost falling to my death..."

"Anything... anything else? Ya know... that you didn't like?"

Guzma scratched his head.  
"Ummmmmmm... nope! I liked everything else."

"E-everything?"

"Everything," he answered definitively, resting his head on friend's shoulder.

Kukui smiled and leaned his head down to rest on Guzma's white hair. He couldn't get the image out of his head of it lighting up like a star in the night sky. He'd never seen anything so beautiful...

The boys didn't say anything else the rest of the trip, they just sat in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Footnotes:**  
>  **1**. "You want it back you gotta catch me!"
> 
> *I wrote a short Epilogue to this section available [ here](https://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com/post/616117901911588864/pain-split-epilogue) (Tumblr link) or [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26671735) (AO3 link)
> 
> ~~~
> 
> Thank you for reading! Feedback and comments are always welcome! Also, I turned on anonymous commenting so please don't make me regret it.
> 
> P.S.If there's a term in the story you don't understand check out the links below!
> 
> ~~~
> 
> [Tumblr page for convenient updates ](http://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com)  
> [Master list of terminology](https://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com/post/615394532986650624/master-list-of-terminology-jolly-rogers)  
> [HCs and Background Info](https://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com/post/615439164403597312/hcs-and-background-info-jolly-rogers)


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